Locations – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Missing Our Neighborhood Bald Eagle

By Mia McPherson|January 23rd, 2023|Categories: Bald Eagles, Birds, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, birds of prey, branches, eagle, eagles, flight, flying, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, mountains, neighborhood, pond, raptors, sky, tree, trees, urban, winter|

By this time in January I have usually already seen and photographed our neighborhood Bald Eagle that visits during the winter for a few weeks.

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1st Winter Common Goldeneye Drake With A Crawdad

By Mia McPherson|January 22nd, 2023|Categories: Birds, Common Goldeneyes, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: 1st winter, Bucephala clangula, Common Goldeneye, crawdad, crayfish, diving ducks, drake, duck, first winter, goldeneye, goldeneyes, male, ponf, urban, water, winter|

Just a quick post this morning of a photo of a 1st winter Common Goldeneye drake with a crawdad in his bill at my neighborhood pond taken last year.

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Squirrel Appreciation Day 2023

By Mia McPherson|January 21st, 2023|Categories: Summit County, Uinta Ground Squirrels, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, canyon, closed, dozing, eyes, ground squirrel, ground squirrels, mountains, spring, squirrel, Squirrel Appreciation Day, squirrels, Uinta Ground Squirrel, Urocitellus armatus|

Today is Squirrel Appreciation Day around the globe. Love them, or hate them, there is no denying that they are fun, fascinating, beguiling, fuzzy creatures!

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Urban Drake Common Merganser Photos

By Mia McPherson|January 20th, 2023|Categories: Birds, Common Mergansers, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: breeding plumage, Common Merganser, dive, diving ducks, drake, duck, ducks, male, merganser, mergansers, Mergus merganser, neighborhood, pond, Salt Lake County, urban, Utah, water, waterfowl, winter|

I can be way too picky when it comes to sharing my images. Today I'll explain why with these urban drake Common Merganser photos taken at my local pond.

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Simply A Duck On A Rock

By Mia McPherson|January 19th, 2023|Categories: Birds, Mallards, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: Anas platyrhynchos, dabbling ducks, drake, duck, ducks, grasses, male, Mallard, mallards, pond, rock, snow, urban, winter|

I headed down to my neighborhood ponds yesterday morning while there was some sunshine and my favorite image of the day was simply a duck on a rock.

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Immature Black-crowned Night Heron – Where Are The Birds?

By Mia McPherson|January 18th, 2023|Categories: Birds, Black-crowned Night Herons, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah|Tags: Black-crowned Night Heron, fishing, heron, herons, hunting, immature, marsh, night heron, night herons, Nycticorax nycticorax, wading birds, water, wetlands, winter, young|

While going through my archives I found this photo of a fishing immature Black-crowned Night Heron taken 10 years ago today at Farmington Bay WMA.

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Ruddy Duck Drake Close To Home

By Mia McPherson|January 17th, 2023|Categories: Birds, Ruddy Ducks, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, breeding plumage, diving ducks, drake, duck, ducks, male, Oxyura jamaicensis, pond, Ruddy Duck, transitioning, urban, water, winter|

The last time I was at my neighborhood pond I spotted a Ruddy Duck drake out in the middle of the water who was starting to transition into breeding plumage.

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Winter Loggerhead Shrike: A Species In Decline

By Mia McPherson|January 16th, 2023|Categories: Birds, Box Elder County, Loggerhead Shrikes, Utah|Tags: adult, desert, desert habitat, Lanius ludovicianus, Loggerhead Shrike, perched, shrike, shrikes, territorial, winter|

Due to extended gray, cloudy weather and not getting out into the field I dug into my archives and today I am sharing a photo of a winter Loggerhead Shrike.

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Male Red-winged Blackbird In January

By Mia McPherson|January 15th, 2023|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Red-winged Blackbirds, Utah|Tags: adult, Agelaius phoeniceus, blackbird, blackbirds, branch, close up, displaying, male, marsh, perched, Red-winged Blackbird, sky, up close, wetlands, winter|

While I was at Farmington Bay WMA three days ago I stopped to photograph a male Red-winged Blackbird that I spotted on an old dead branch.

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Low Light Female Belted Kingfisher

By Mia McPherson|January 14th, 2023|Categories: Belted Kingfishers, Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah|Tags: adult, Belted Kingfisher, branch, branches, clouds, cloudy, female, Glover Pond, kingfisher, kingfishers, low light, Megaceryle alcyon, perched, pond, Queenfisher, russet, skies, slaty blue, wetlands, winter|

I found a perched female Belted Kingfisher while I was at Farmington Bay WMA two days ago. This was after the clouds came back in creating low light conditions.

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Female American Kestrel On A Tree Top

By Mia McPherson|January 13th, 2023|Categories: American Kestrels, Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Utah|Tags: adult, American Kestrel, branches, Falco sparverius, falcon, falcons, Falcons of Utah, female, kestrel, kestrels, marsh, perched, seed pods, tree, wetlands, winter|

I spent a few moments photographing a gorgeous female American Kestrel on a tree top yesterday morning at Farmington Bay WMA.

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Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay With Different Backgrounds

By Mia McPherson|January 12th, 2023|Categories: Birds, Tooele County, Utah, West Desert, Woodhouse's Scrub-Jays|Tags: adult, Aphelocoma woodhouseii, background, desert, foot hills, jay, jays, juniper, junipers, Juniperus osteosperma, mountains, perched, scrub-jay, scrub-jays, sky, sky island mountains, tree, trees, Utah Juniper, winter, Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay|

This morning I'm sharing two photos of the same Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay perched in the West Desert on the same juniper with two different backgrounds.

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Rough-legged Hawk Staredown

By Mia McPherson|January 11th, 2023|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Rough-legged Hawks, Utah|Tags: adult, birds of prey, Buteo lagopus, Buteos, close up, cold, hawk, hawks, Hawks of Utah, light morph, male, marsh, mountains, perched, portrait, raptors, Rough-legged Hawk, sign, sky, snow, staredown, wetlands, winter|

One year ago this morning I was on the road to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge where my best subject of the day was a male light morph Rough-legged Hawk.

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Some Days Are Golden

By Mia McPherson|January 10th, 2023|Categories: Salt Lake County, Trees, Utah, Water Birch|Tags: Betula occidentalis, birch, birches, broadleaf tree, close up, golden, leaf, Salt Lake County, specular highlight, tree, trees, urban, Utah, Water Birch|

Some days are golden. Some days are decidedly not. This is just a short post because yesterday was definitely not.

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Sawgrass Lake Park Photos

By Mia McPherson|January 9th, 2023|Categories: Anhingas, Birds, Florida, Pinellas County, Sawgrass Lake Park|Tags: adult, anhinga, Anhinga anhinga, anhingas, branches, golden light, grasses, hills, lake, leaves, male, misty, morning, nesting material, Spanish Moss, summer, Tillandsia usneoides, tree, trees, water, wetlands|

This morning I am traveling back in time via my archives to revisit Sawgrass Lake Park in Pinellas County, Florida.

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First Winter Hooded Merganser At An Urban Pond

By Mia McPherson|January 8th, 2023|Categories: Birds, Hooded Mergansers, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: dive, diving ducks, duck, ducks, first winter, Hooded Merganser, Lophodytes cucullatus, merganser, mergansers, pond, urban, water, waterfowl, winter|

A few days ago I had the opportunity to photograph this first winter Hooded Merganser at an urban pond that isn't far from where I live after a heavy snow.

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My Birding By Ear Affliction

By Mia McPherson|January 7th, 2023|Categories: American Crows, Barred Owls, Birds, Blue Jays, Florida, Hillsborough County, Lettuce Lake Regional Park, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, American Crow, autumn, Barred Owl, birding by ear, Blue Jay, branches, corvids, Corvus brachyrhynchos, crow, crows, Cyanocitta cristata, epiphytic flowering plant, fall, hardwood hammock, ice, jay, jays, marsh, owl, owls, peanut, perched, Spanish Moss, Strix varia, Tillandsia usneoides, tree, wetlands, winter|

My birding by ear affliction isn't that I can't hear birds; it is that I can't not hear them. Even when I am on the phone with my friends.

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Immature American Herring Gull Testing The Ice

By Mia McPherson|January 6th, 2023|Categories: American Herring Gulls, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Utah|Tags: American Herring Gull, gull, gulls, ice, immature, insurrection, January 6th, Larus smithsonianus, marsh, testing, water, wetlands, winter, young|

It was January 6, 2021, when I photographed this immature American Herring Gull testing the ice at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.

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Dapper Mallard Drake In Snow

By Mia McPherson|January 5th, 2023|Categories: Birds, Mallards, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: Anas platyrhynchos, dabbling ducks, dapper, drake, duck, ducks, male, Mallard, mallards, snow, snowy, urban, waterfowl, winter|

After I photographed the handsome Gadwall drake that I shared yesterday I couldn't resist taking images of this alert and dapper Mallard drake in the snow.

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Gadwall Drake Resting In Snow

By Mia McPherson|January 4th, 2023|Categories: American Coots, Birds, Leucistic, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, American Coot, coot, coots, dabbling ducks, drake, duck, ducks, foraging, Fulica americana, Gadwall, gadwalls, leucism, leucistic, male, Mareca strepera, plumage aberration, pond, resting, snow, tree, trunk, urban, water, winter|

This morning I'm sharing photos of a Gadwall drake resting in snow plus a bonus photo of the leucistic American Coot taken yesterday in afternoon light.

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Leucistic American Coot In Salt Lake County

By Mia McPherson|January 3rd, 2023|Categories: American Coots, Birds, Leucistic, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, American Coot, cloudy, coot, coots, Fulica americana, leucism, leucistic, low light, plumage aberration, pond, urban, water, winter|

After shoveling more snow I wanted to go to my local pond to see what was there. My jaw dropped when I found a foraging leucistic American Coot.

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American Robin – My First Bird Of The Year 2023

By Mia McPherson|January 2nd, 2023|Categories: American Robins, Birds, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: adult, American Robin, first of year, resting, robin, robins, snow, snowy, thrush, thrushes, Turdus migratorius, urban, winter|

My first bird of 2023 was an American Robin, actually it was a flock of about 50 of them flying over my head as I got ready to shovel snow.

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Hello 2023!

By Mia McPherson|January 1st, 2023|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Box Elder County, Great Blue Herons, Utah|Tags: adult, Ardea herodias, dense, fog, foggy, Great Blue Heron, heavy fog, heron, herons, ice, marsh, snow, wading birds, wetlands, winter|

Hello 2023! I hope that 2023 will be wonderful for each and everyone of us. Right now it isn't clear what 2023 will bring.

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My 2022 Year In Review

By Mia McPherson|December 31st, 2022|Categories: American Kestrels, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Birds, Black-billed Magpies, Box Elder County, Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, Golden Eagles, Great Horned Owls, Horned Grebes, Morgan County, Northern Yellow Warblers, Ring-billed Gulls, Rock Wrens, Ruffed Grouse, Tundra Swans, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Western Warbling-Vireos|Tags: adult, Amelanchier utahensis, American Kestrel, Aquila chrysaetos, autumn, background, berries, Bewick's Swan, bill, birds of prey, Black-billed Magpie, blooming, blooms, blossoms, Bonasa umbellus, boulder, Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Bubo virginianus, building, canyon, close up, corvids, Cygnus columbianus, Cygnus columbianus bewickii, Davis County, desert, dirt, eagle, eagles, Falco sparverius, falcon, falcons, fall, farmlands, female, fledgling, flight, flock, flowering, flowering shrub, flying, forest edge, fruiting shrub, fruits, fruting shrubs, Golden Eagle, gorget, Great Horned Owl, grebe, grebes, grouse, gull, gulls, Horned Grebe, hummingbird, hummingbirds, immature, juvenile, kestrel, kestrels, Larus delawarensis, lichen, lores, magpie, magpies, male, marsh, mountains, nest, nest box, nesting, nonbreeding plumage, Northern Yellow Warbler, owl, owls, perched, Pica hudsonia, Podiceps auritus, raptors, rare, reflection, Ring-billed Gull, riparian habitat, road, roadside, rock, Rock Wren, rocks, Ruffed Grouse, Salpinctes obsoletus, Selasphorus platycercus, serviceberries, serviceberry, Setophaga aestiva, shrub, spring, stink-eye, summer, swan, swans, thicket, tree, Tundra Swans, Utah, Utah Serviceberry, vagrant, warbler, warblers, water, waterbirds, waterfowl, wetlands, willow, willow thicket, willows, winter, winter plumage, wood-warbler, wood-warblers, wren, wrens, young|

On this last day of the year it is time for my annual 2022 Year in Review post. In some ways 2022 has been great for me and in others not so good.

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Great Blue Heron On Ice At Farmington Bay WMA

By Mia McPherson|December 30th, 2022|Categories: Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Florida, Gandy Beach, Great Blue Herons, Pinellas County, Utah|Tags: adult, Ardea herodias, beach, coastal, Great Blue Heron, heron, herons, ice, marsh, Mia McPherson, oysters, photograph, pond, rocks, shadow, taking, Tampa Bay, Utah, vegetation, wading birds, water, wetlands, winter, yawning|

I had some fun photographing a Great Blue Heron on ice along with its shadow yesterday morning on a pond at Farmington Bay WMA.

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Wildflowers I Photographed In 2022

By Mia McPherson|December 29th, 2022|Categories: Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Blue Elderberry, Box Elder County, Chicory, Common Mullein, Common Sunflowers, Curlycup Gumweed, Davis County, East Canyon, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Flatbud Prickly Poppy, Gray’s Biscuitroot, Hound’s Tongue, Lewis’s Flax, Longleaf Phlox, Morgan County, Mountain Goldenbanner, Parsnipflower Buckwheat, Purple Loosestrife, Roundleaf Snowberry, Rubber Rabbitbrush, Scarlet Gilia, Showy Milkweed, Silvery Lupine, Spearleaf Arnica, Sticky Purple Geraniums, Summit County, Tooele County, Utah, Utah Serviceberry, Wasatch Mountains, Western Chokecherry, White Water Crowfoot, Wood's Rose|Tags: Aster, Beardtongue, blooming, blooms, Blue Elderberry, Blue Flax, Chicory, Common Mullein, Common Sunflower, Curlycup Gumweed, Flatbud Prickly Poppy, flowering, flowers, Gray's Biscuitroot, Houndstongue, Lewis's flax, Longleaf Phlox, Mountain Goldenbanner, Parsnipflower Buckwheat, Penstemon, Prickly Poppy, Purple Loosestrife, Roundleaf Snowberry, Rubber Rabbitbrush, Scarlet Gilia, Showy Milkweed, Silvery Lupine, Spearleaf Arnica, Sticky Purple Geranium, Utah Serviceberry, Western Chokecherry, White Water-crowfoot, wildflower, wildflowers, Woods' Rose|

This morning I wanted to share some of the wildflowers I photographed in 2022. Birds are my primary subjects yet I simply can't resist focusing on wildflowers.

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Some Mammals I Loved In 2022

By Mia McPherson|December 28th, 2022|Categories: American Badgers, Davis County, Elk, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Least Chipmunks, Long-tailed Weasels, Morgan County, Mule Deer, Summit County, Uinta Ground Squirrels, Uinta Mountains, Uinta National Forest, Utah, Wasatch Mountains, Yellow-bellied Marmots|Tags: adult, American Badger, autumn, baby, badger, badger burrow, badgers, canyon, Cervus canadensis, chipmunk, chipmunks, close up, cow, curious, cute, Elk, elks, fall, female, fence post, grazing, ground squirrel, ground squirrels, high Uintas, hillside, kissing, Least Chipmunk, Long-tailed Weasel, mammals, marmot, Marmota flaviventris, marmots, marsh, mountains, mustelids, Neogale frenata, Neotamias minimus, portrait, profile, roadside, rock, rock pile, rocks, rocky slope, shadow, spring, squirrel, squirrels, summer, summer coat, Taxidea taxus, Uinta Ground Squirrel, Urocitellus armatus, weasel, weasels, wetlands, wooden post, Yellow-bellied Marmot, young|

This morning I am sharing some photos of the mammals I loved finding, seeing, photographing and having in my viewfinder in 2022.

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Patterns In Ice And Human Nature?

By Mia McPherson|December 27th, 2022|Categories: Miscellaneous, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: awful, Christmas Eve, cup, garbage, ice, patterns, people, pollution, pond, trash, urban, water, winter|

These swirly patterns in ice caught my eye because of the light and golden reflections from the vegetation on the shoreline of a neighborhood pond.

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Made It Through Christmas And I Am Just Ducky

By Mia McPherson|December 26th, 2022|Categories: Birds, Mallards, Salt Lake County, Utah|Tags: Anas platyrhynchos, bill, dabbling ducks, duck, ducks, ducky, feather, female, hen, ice, Mallard, mallards, pond, urban, waterfowl, winter|

Well, I made it through the Christmas part of the holidays this year in one piece and I am feeling just ducky.

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Christmas Day American Kestrel

By Mia McPherson|December 25th, 2022|Categories: American Kestrels, Birds, Davis County, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Salt Lake County, Utah, Wasatch Mountains|Tags: adult, afternoon, American Kestrel, Christmas Day, Christmas Eve, clouds, Falco sparverius, falcon, falcons, Falcons of Utah, haze, hazy, male, marsh, mountains, peaks, perched, sky, snow, Wasatch Mountain Range, Wasatch Mountains, wetlands, winter, winter inversion, wooden post|

I photographed this Christmas Day American Kestrel in 2020 at Farmington Bay WMA. That Christmas Day was bright and sunny, today isn't going to be at all.

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